


The Simplest Explanation

by shinealightonme



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-23
Updated: 2011-08-23
Packaged: 2017-10-23 00:19:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/244182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinealightonme/pseuds/shinealightonme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve spots an unusual artifact while doing inventory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Simplest Explanation

It was perhaps a stupid question, but it was a question that needed to be asked.

"Is that – a unicorn horn?"

Myka looked across the aisle at Steve like a librarian who's just been asked if they have the eighth Harry Potter book. "You know there's no such thing as unicorns, right?"

"I thought there was no such thing as steampunk walkie-talkies or lethal Shakespeare plays, either." He reached to pull the horn off the shelf but remembered where he was. His time at the warehouse had been eventful enough so far; there was no reason to be known as the guy who got turned into a My Little Pony, or whatever this particular artifact might do. "Tell me this doesn't look like a unicorn horn."

"Actually, it looks like a _tusk_ , specifically from a narwhal." Confidence aside, Myka came over to investigate the artifact. "See?" she pointed at the display screen. "Franklin's tusk."

If she were Pete, Steve would suspect this was an elaborate set-up for a crude punch line. On second thought, no; Pete would have just gone straight for the dick joke. "Ben Franklin?"

"John Franklin," Myka replied instinctively, her attention focused on the screen. "Led a hundred men into the Arctic and never came back."

"So where'd the tusk come from?"

"It was found a decade later by another team of explorers, along with some other items from Franklin's party. Got passed around wealthy European circles for a while, but its owners kept dying of hypothermia."

Steve shrugged. "That's not so unusual. Europe gets pretty cold sometimes."

"On summer vacation in Greece?" Myka asked. He was pretty sure she was laughing at him as she returned to her archiving work.

Steve looked back at the tusk. He felt colder just staring at it.

There was another question to ask, now.

"In what way is any of that _less_ ridiculous than a unicorn?"

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Warehouse 13 Last Drabble Writer Standing](http://w13-ldws.livejournal.com/), for the prompt 'Now I will believe that there are unicorns...'


End file.
